Problem: In the diagram, the grid is made up of squares. What is the area of the shaded region? [asy]

size(8cm);

// Fill area
fill((0, 0)--(0, 2)--(3, 2)--(3, 3)--(7, 3)--(7, 4)--(12, 4)--cycle, gray(0.75));

defaultpen(1);

// Draw grid
draw((0, 0)--(12, 0));
draw((0, 1)--(12, 1));
draw((0, 2)--(12, 2));
draw((3, 3)--(12, 3));
draw((7, 4)--(12, 4));
draw((0, 0)--(12, 4));
draw((0, 2)--(0, 0));
draw((1, 2)--(1, 0));
draw((2, 2)--(2, 0));
draw((3, 3)--(3, 0));
draw((4, 3)--(4, 0));
draw((5, 3)--(5, 0));
draw((6, 3)--(6, 0));
draw((7, 4)--(7, 0));
draw((8, 4)--(8, 0));
draw((9, 4)--(9, 0));
draw((10, 4)--(10, 0));
draw((11, 4)--(11, 0));
draw((12, 4)--(12, 0));

// Draw lengths
path height = (-0.5, 0)--(-0.5, 2);
path width = (0, -0.5)--(12, -0.5);
path height2 = (12.5, 0)--(12.5, 4);
draw(height); draw(width); draw(height2);
draw((-0.6, 0)--(-0.4, 0));
draw((-0.6, 2)--(-0.4, 2));
draw((0, -0.6)--(0, -0.4));
draw((12, -0.6)--(12, -0.4));
draw((12.4, 0)--(12.6, 0));
draw((12.4, 4)--(12.6, 4));

// label lengths
label("$2$", (-0.5, 1), W);
label("$12$", (6, -0.5), S);
label("$4$", (12.5, 2), E);

[/asy]
The area of the entire grid in the diagram is 38.  (We can obtain this either by counting the individual squares, or by dividing the grid into a 2 by 3 rectangle, a 3 by 4 rectangle, and a 4 by 5 rectangle.)

The area of shaded region is equal to the area of the entire grid minus the area of the unshaded triangle, which is right-angled with a base of 12 and a height of 4. Therefore, the area of the shaded region is $$38 - \frac{1}{2}(12)(4)=38-24=\boxed{14}.$$